GATINEAU, Que. — Jeremy Hansen’s arrival on the airstrip is nothing if not dramatic.

The former Canadian Forces fighter pilot turned astronaut looks every bit the military hero as he taxis up the runway in a gold F-86 Sabre, the vintage aircraft he piloted Thursday morning to promote the Wings Over Gatineau-Ottawa Airshow, on this weekend.

Getting the chance to fly the famed aircraft is just one of the perks awarded to Hansen since he became the new face of the Canadian Space Agency — a role that requires him to be as much a spokesman as a scientist.

Since the retirement of Chris Hadfield, only two active astronauts remain with Canada’s program, and their departing colleague has left some big space boots to fill.

Not only did Hadfield conduct a record 100 experiments during his five-month tenure on the International Space Station, he raised the bar for public engagement, capturing the world’s attention with his tweets and innovative YouTube videos.

With at least three years to go before another Canadian takes to space — and it will be the first time for Hansen or his lone astronaut colleague, David Saint-Jacques — the next few years will be a rigorous combination of physical preparation, public relations and waiting.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO: September 12, 2013 — Press conference for the Wings Over Gatineau-Ottawa air show this weekend featured local wing-walking legend Carol Pilon, seen here on the right with her pilot Marcus Paine, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Major Jeremy Hansen, one of CanadaÄôs next generation of astronauts, Gatineau Mayor Marc Bureau and Vintage Wings founder Mike Potter.

Hansen said he couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to venture beyond Earth’s atmosphere, even if he’s not certain when it will arrive.

“How fortunate can you be to be in line to fly in space?” he said on the Gatineau tarmac. “And, as it turns out, the job of being an astronaut when you’re not flying in space is magnificent.”

Magnificently busy.

Fresh from a summer spent training in the High Arctic, Hansen’s blitz in the Ottawa area Thursday included two news conferences bookending a presentation for students at the Canadian Aviation Museum. This weekend he spends a day at the airshow before jetting off to Europe, where he will spend two weeks deep within a cave learning how to navigate in confined spaces with a team of European counterparts.

Asked if he feels pressure to take a page out of Hadfield’s social media book to keep public interest piqued while Canada’s space program is grounded, Hansen coolly answered no.

One of the most important lessons he gleaned from his predecessor, he said, is how important authenticity is to succeeding in that part of the job.

“The one thing about Chris Hadfield is he’s very real. If you spend a lot of time with him, that’s just Chris, everything he does is real. I think that’s important, so I just try to be me.

“I guess my background, my training is such that I know not to feel pressure.”

While Hansen may not be plotting to rivet the world with classic rock covers, a la Hadfield’s outer-space ode to David Bowie, he shares an enthusiasm for space travel that is equally infectious.

Although soft-spoken, Hansen easily held the attention of 200 students in grades six to eight during his presentation Thursday — as well as that of every adult in the room.

He talked with awe and reverence about Hadfield’s accomplishments and the work that Hansen hopes to do, such as walking on the moon, or perhaps the Eros asteroid that orbits near Earth.

Commercial investment in rockets designed to facilitate a space tourism industry will soon make it cheaper and easier for governments to advance their own space programs, Hansen said. He said he believes those technological advances will revolutionize aeronautics within his lifetime — meaning Canadians in the future could concretely set their sights on becoming an astronaut, something that wasn’t possible for him.

“In my lifetime, you could not anticipate that you were going to be an astronaut. You could aim for it, you could keep it in the back of your mind as a dream, but it wouldn’t have been healthy to base my life’s success on getting to this point,” he said. “But it’s changing.”

And although he’s still waiting to realize his dreams of being among the stars, in the meantime, he’s happy to use his platform to encourage others to shoot for them.

Jessica is the 2013-14 Michelle Lang Fellow with Postmedia News. She's on a one-year adventure working out of Ottawa and Calgary covering national politics, news and chipping away at a special project... read more on the relationship between work and personal identity in Canada's rapidly changing economy.View author's profile